By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – The bridge on Route 18 over Oak Orchard River has been limited to one lane since March 9, when the state Department of Transportation started repairing the truss. That work is expected to conclude this week, and crews will then mobilize to work on the Main Street lift bridge in Albion next week, DOT spokeswoman Lori Maher said.
By keeping the Carlton bridge at one lane, the DOT avoided having to detour traffic while the repairs were made, she said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – Carlton firefighter Ben Diltz tries to break up some of the wreckage from a fire this morning at a garage owned by William Wells at 13324 Hanlon Rd.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 5:34 a.m., but the garage had already mostly collapsed.
Orleans County fire investigators are at the scene, looking for the cause of the fire.
Firefighters are trying to cut through metal and wood to put out hot spots.
The Town of Carlton Highway Department is expected on the scene with a backhoe to spread out the smoldering debris, to prevent fire flareups.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – Orleans County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a two-car accident at the corner of Route 18 and Harris Road in the Town of Carlton a little after 5 p.m. today.
There were no injuries in the accident. The ice and slush on many of the roads in the county is making for difficult travel.
A winter weather advisory is in effect until 1 a.m. tonight due to the freezing rain.
Medina and Lyndonville both cancelled after-school activities today due to the hazardous weather.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Brown’s Berry Patch has been a popular site along Route 18 in Carlton for about three decades.
WATERPORT – A popular agri-tourism retail site that drew outsiders to Orleans County and also employed about 50 people during the peak of the fall season will close.
Brown’s Berry Patch owners said the site, which started in 1984 as a small fruit stand, is closing. The Brown’s Berry Patch fruit and wholesale businesses will remain in operation.
Bob Brown and his wife Deborah say the business has been profitable, but they are ready to retire. They worked together to make it an agri-tourism destination.
Bob’s brother Eric is the farm’s orchard manager and Bob and Deborah’s son Bobby is in charge of the berry operation, as well as handling other responsibilities for the farm. Eric and Bobby want to continue focusing on growing fruit and working with the wholesale customers – not the retail operation.
“We’ve been blessed with a lot of great customers,” Bob Brown said. “I’m going to miss all of those customers.”
Bob Brown stands next his wife Deborah during the dedication of a Peace Garden on Oct. 5, 2013. Brown’s ancestors helped fight the British during the War of 1812. Paula Savage, the Peace Garden Foundation president, is at right.
The Brown family will continue the 300-acre farm through Orchard Dale Fruit Company. The family has a long lineage in Carlton, dating back to 1804.
Bob Brown pushed to start the retail operation about three decades ago, selling fruit from a roadside stand. He said the farm needed to diversify and not just rely on wholesale buyers.
The farm added its first structure in 1984 for Brown’s Berry Patch. It kept growing in the years that followed, adding a playground that kept expanding. It had a petting zoo with farm animals. The retail side grew to ice cream, gifts, desserts and sandwiches.
Brown’s Berry Patch was popular for wagon rides and birthday parties. “Farmer Brown” – Bob Brown – was the leader of many of those tours, which included many school groups.
Eric Brown looks over a field of strawberries in this photo from May 2013. The Brown family will focus on growing fruit for its wholesale customers.
Gayle Ashbery, the Carlton town supervisor, said she was sad to hear the news this morning about the closing of the retail operation.
“They had a wonderful business that drew a lot of people from a lot of different areas,” Ashbery said.”It was definitely a draw.”
Brown’s attracted many repeat customers from Monroe, Erie, Niagara and Genesee counties. The farm market became a destination. In 2004, it was recognized with an I Love New York Governor’s Agri-Tourism Award.
Brown’s Berry Patch also has been recognized for excellence by the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association, Orleans County Chamber of Commerce, New York Agricultural Society and Genesee Valley Parent Magazine.
Bob Brown said the family strove to run a clean operation that was family friendly, and also gave customers a taste of farm life.
Pedal cars, a Bouncy Pillow, and the Goat Walk (where goats walk on a track on top of a grain bin and barn) have been popular.
The family would consider leasing the space to another retailer.
CARLTON – The State Department of Transportation will again be closing the 2-mile, western portion of the Lake Ontario State Parkway between Lakeside Beach State Park and Route 98 for the rest of the winter effective Friday. The highway will be opened later this spring as weather allows.
The savings in de-icing materials, equipment maintenance, and in repairs to the often damaged pavement come spring is expensive and consumes many hours of manpower. Eliminating excess use of heavy plow equipment would preserve the existing infrastructure including pavement and bridges over Oak Orchard Creek.
About 800 cars travel this section every day and likely even less in the winter. The Parkway already prohibits commercial truck traffic. Motorists will be directed to use Route 18 as a detour route.
The same section has been closed in recent years in November, but this year coordination with unplanned repairs to the Route 18 bridge over Oak Orchard Creek was needed. Bridge repairs, slated to take about two weeks, are scheduled to begin later this month. The road will remain open to traffic throughout the construction with use of an alternating traffic signal.
We appreciate your understanding in advance. If you have any questions, please contact Resident Engineer Pat Reinhold in Batavia, at 343-0502 or via e-mail at patricia.reinhold@dot.ny.gov.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Firefighters spent several hours on Friday at the scene of a fire in Carlton at 2086 Oak Orchard Rd.
CARLTON – The Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office has positively identified George Swartz as the victim of a fatal fire on Friday, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess said.
The body of George P. Swartz, 65, was recovered in the remains of a house fire on Friday night. Swartz owned the house and was the sole resident.
The Monroe County Examiner’s Office in Rochester determined Swartz’s cause of death as “Inhalation of Various Combustibles” and the manner of death as “Accidental,” Hess said.
The cause and origin of the fire remains under investigation.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Firefighters work on putting out a fire on Friday afternoon at a house owned by George Swartz.
Press Release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess
CARLTON – A man was found dead following a structure fire that started Friday afternoon on Route 98 in the Town of Carlton.
At about 1:40 p.m., Carlton firefighters were dispatched to 2086 Oak Orchard Rd. A Sheriff’s deputy on patrol arrived at the scene within a minute of the call and reported the two-story dwelling fully engulfed in fire.
The owner and sole resident of the home could not immediately be located and it was believed that he might be in the structure. In addition to the Carlton Fire Department, seven other fire departments from within the county were called to the scene. It was several hours before the fire was completely extinguished.
It took several hours for firefighters to put out the blaze in the two-story house.
Once the fire was completely out, a search was initiated and shortly before 10 p.m., an individual was located in the basement of the remaining structure, and pronounced dead by Orleans County Coroner Scott Schmidt.
The body was subsequently removed and transported to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office in Rochester for autopsy and positive identification.
In addition to the Sheriff’s Office, the incident remains under investigation by the Orleans County Office of Emergency Management, and the NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control. A New York State Police K-9 team assisted with the search for the deceased.
Fire Departments responding to the scene were as follows: Albion, Barre, FHM (Fancher-Hulberton-Murray), Kendall, Lyndonville, Ridgeway and Medina. Fire Departments providing station fill-ins were Elba at Barre and Shelby at Albion.
The dark smoke from the fire could be seen from several miles away.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 January 2015 at 8:20 pm
Route 98 remains blocked off north of Route104
Photos by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – Firefighters remain at the scene of a fire in Carlton that destroyed much of a house at 2086 Oak Orchard Rd.
The property is owned by George Swartz and the site was condemned by the town recently as living quarters. Swartz was at the scene earlier today, trying to clean up the property, law enforcement officials said.
Fire investigators are on scene sifting through the rubble, looking a cause and also checking to see if anyone remained inside the house during the fire.
Fire departments from throughout Orleans County responded to the fire, which was first reported at 1:39 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Members of the Royal Church of God in Christ collected about eight boxes of canned and other nonperishable food on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Rev. William Washington, pastor of the church on Sawyer Road in Kent, delivered the food today to Community Action of Orleans & Genesee in Albion. Rev. Washington is pictured in the top photo with his nephews, Mark Washington (center) and Anthony Washington.
The donations for the food pantry come at a good time, said Nate Varland, director of housing and supportive services for Community Action. The agency sees a surge in donations around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but giving tends to drop after the holidays.
“Post holidays we have a lull in donations,” he said. “Mid-winter is a time when we don’t see a lull in need.”
Nate Varland of Community Action is pictured with Rev. William Morrell Washington, pastor of the Royal Church of God in Christ.
Washington said the church wants to make service a big part of honoring Dr. King every year his holiday is celebrated. About 100 people attend the church, and Washington said the group would like to work with Community Action with other projects during the year.
“This is just a start,” he said about the food donations. “We’d like to see the real needs for Community Action so we can assist them on a regular basis.”
